broncos!

on sunday we went to the broncos - ravens game with some great friends. the weather was perfect and it was a ton of fun even if the broncos did lose. 

(sam and a scary ravens fan)

(my favorite broncos player!)

here's ryan and i's track record for watching colorado sports in dc:

redskins - broncos: broncos lost

wizards - nuggets: nuggets lost

nationals - rockies: rockies lost

ravens - broncos: broncos lost

we should probably stop going, but watching our teams out here helps us feel a little less homesick.

hope you all are having a happy day!

-kelsie.

fall feelings.

(found via here)

at some point last week fall came. we had to go to our storage unit to get our warmer clothes. i have joyfully been wearing my boots and scarves and jackets. the leaves are just starting to change and all i want to eat is pumpkin flavored things. 

i love when weather reminds you of something, and lately that has been happening to me so often. this morning the weather felt like it did when i would go watch my brother's football games on friday nights, sitting with my mom and aunt and drinking bad hot chocolate from the concession stand. having the windows open in the apartment reminds me of when ryan was traveling so much last fall and how i would sleep with a frying pan under my bed, just in case. saturday morning felt like what the weather will feel like someday when ryan and i are at our children's soccer games on cool, crisp saturday mornings. and all of my scarves and jackets seem to remind me of something significant that happened while i was wearing them. mainly, they all have to do with ryan. like the sweater i was wearing when i met him. or the jacket i was wearing when he asked for my phone number. or the scarf i was wearing when he proposed.

i love fall. i love the change, the cooler weather. the colors and the flavors. and that it means we're closer to christmas. which means we're closer to dinners with family, board games, friends and colorado.

i hope you are loving your fall. 

-kelsie.

busy bees.

(denver botanic gardens, 2008) 

here's a brief update on life:

we went to a beach in delaware with some great friends from church.

we watched a lot of great youtube videos.

ryan had his first ever cracker barrel experience.

we went to a baseball game and had our first ben's chili bowl experience.

i got a migraine and threw up in a ziplock bag in the car.

i saw some c-sections.

i spent a sunday afternoon with a very influential woman in my life.

we're holding our breath about the carmelo anthony situation.

we left ellie overnight for the first time with a good friend.

i'm in midterm-mode for school.

i'm feeling connected and busy and loved here in dc. it's amazing to see the difference between now and where i was one year ago when we had only been out here 3 months. we have met some amazing people and i'm so grateful for each of them. while i doubt we will be here forever, i am loving the time that we are.

i hope you all are happy and healthy and having the best tuesday.

-kelsie.

fern friday.

happy friday!

ryan's parents have been in town for work and were able to spend last night and today! it has been so fun to show them our home and the places we've been hanging out this past year.  i'll post some pictures of our time with them soon!

hugh, ryan's dad, knows a lot about trees and plants and things so i asked him how he thought my fern was doing. to say he was concerned would be an understatement. the soil was completely dry. there is one side that is looking quite dead. he said i could possibly bring it back to life with lots of watering. apparently ferns need moisture. so, i'm going to work on that.

also, we had our first family photo taken today! ellie looks so mad! she's really a happy, smiling dog!

we're going hiking tomorrow and we'll be trying to soak up every ounce of summer. hope you have the greatest weekend!

-kelsie.

thinking and talking.

i've been thinking a lot lately and the thoughts are hard to put into words. i feel like ryan and i are at the very beginning of making some big decisions. it's exciting and scary and stressful and fun and makes my stomach tie itself in knots. i so desire for ryan and i to live out our passions and abilities God has granted us. but what does that look like? we're not sure. that stresses me out. but i think getting to that point is a journey. we're still defining what our passions and abilities really are.  after may 2011, we will have nothing holding us down. we're working on figuring out what our life will look like in a year. we have about a billion ideas and i am working on being open to them all. i'm excited to see what will happen and grateful for a God who has it all figured out and a husband to explore with.

introducing....

ellie brandt.

 our newest addition and obsession. 

ryan and i have wanted a dog since we got married and we are now living in an apartment that allows them. we searched and searched for a while and finally found our ellie.

ellie is a rescue dog so we don't know a ton about her. they think she's about two years old. she has been living in a foster home for the past few weeks but she is home with us now! she is unbelievably cute and, surprisingly, SO well behaved!

she knows how to sit, lay down, and high five. she is potty trained and does great in the car. she has slept through the night every night we've had her and she loves her toys.

since she's been with us, she's had quite the makeover. ellie's hair was a cute mess but was extremely matted and wayyy too long. we took her to the groomer and she was a new woman! i think she was amazed how well she could see! here's her before and after:

{before}

{after}

we're just crazy about her and i think she's already sick of us taking pictures of her. but here's our photo shoot from today:

i'm sure you'll be seeing lots more of our little ellie.

hope your monday is beautiful!

-kelsie.

july 7th...

is my favorite day of the year. a whole day to celebrate my husband.

happy birthday, ryan. 

you make me better. you make everyday better. you make everything better.

i love you more than i ever thought i could.

-kelsie.

fern friday (saturday).

(in honor of our move)

last night we had an amazing night with friends in georgetown. we went to an incredible italian restaurant... (could you guess what my favorite type of food is???) it was recommended to one of our friends by some people at the italian embassy... so it was pretty legit. like - they fly in mozzarella every day. it was the best cheese i have ever had. i need to go to italy.

this weekend it will be exactly one year since we moved out here. it's crazy how quickly time has passed, how much we have grown and how much life has changed.

have the best weekend! we have fun plans including ikea trips and barbeques! fun!

happy 4th of july friends!

moving.

{our car almost one year ago on the journey from colorado to dc}

so we're moving.

like 12 miles away.

there's just two of us.

it's a lot of work.

i'm emotional.

like cry-on-the-phone-while-talking-to-random-people emotional.

it makes me respect ryan's parents even more. they moved from africa with two young boys. they're still alive and doing well, so i'm believing that we can get through this. 

sorry for the lack of blog presence lately, hoping to be back soon when i'm sitting in a different zip code.

-kelsie.

adios!

{image via here}

ryan and i are heading to white, sandy beaches in mexico for the next week.

(i've been using foam self-tanner in order to prevent blinding anyone with my snow white legs)

this past year has been an incredible, beautiful blessing and a hard, messy adventure. we are excited to have a week with some family and friends to relax and reflect - and not have to drive in terrible dc traffic.

can't wait to show you the pictures! have a great week!!

-kelsie.

valentines.

 

this was our first valentines. we had been dating like two weeks. valentines is kind of an awkward day when you haven't been dating very long. and then we ended up matching. which was cute, but kind of added to the awkwardness.

 

this was our first married valentines. we have been married eight months. it wasn't awkward at all. it was fun and filled with flowers, burgers, pizza, cupcakes, and basketball.  and we didn't match. it was the best. 

-kelsie.

reminiscing.

it's really cold and really gloomy here. i need to go do things but sitting by the fireplace with a blanket and looking through old pictures is way more fun.

i've been looking at pictures of ryan and i moving out here. it was quite the journey. colorado to dc. it takes a long time. especially when you have a uhaul trailer and can only go 50 mph in order to prevent flipping over. that was pretty stressful.

it was a fun trip but it gave me an entirely new respect for moving companies.

here are some fun pictures. we were still tan from jamaica. we also went to prairie dog town. those were the days.

 

-kelsie.

this is our fern.

for the time being, it is our pet and child. it is the only other living thing in our apartment besides ryan and i (i hope). we like it and hope it lives for a long time.

i've been intrigued (and perhaps obsessed) with the blog world for a while now and wanted to give one a try. i will try to keep it updated with our happenings and documenting our fern's growth. i might also just throw in a few things i like.

we'll see how long this blog thing lasts, but for now, i'm quite excited about it.

-kelsie.